In architectural settings, it is often necessary to improve architectural structures by adding, changing or removing certain portions. Such architectural improvements and additions are constantly being made in commercial and industrial settings. More specifically, in many commercial and industrial settings, changes need to be made in modular, steel, aluminum, and fiberglass reinforced plastic framing products and accessories suitable for electrical, industrial, construction and other applications without welding or performing other permanent changes. One of the common problems encountered in changing the modular form of the architectural construction is the removal or addition of horizontal members to the existing threaded rod assemblies. To effectively add or remove horizontal members to existing threaded rod assemblies, such procedure requires the whole assembly to be removed and a new assembly to be installed. Then, the original assembly will be reinstalled, which is very labor intensive, and adds a substantial cost to a work project.
A strut system is a system of horizontally placed channeled strut members suspended from the ceiling on a plurality of vertical threaded rods. The channel strut member has a plurality of holes through which the vertical rods are received as the strut member is raised to the proper elevation. A washer and a threaded nut are run up on the rod to engage the bottom of the strut member or the top of the strut member and support the strut member on the rod. Pipes or electrical cables are supported horizontally on these pipe rack strut members and run horizontally overhead throughout the building.
When architectural improvements, additions or removals require new pipe or electrical hookups, or rerouting, the suspended pipes or electrical cables must be removed or replaced, or new ones added. This procedure often requires expensive periods of shutdowns while the pipe racks are disassembled. In some cases, a second layer or intermediate pipe rack may be installed above the existing one to allow placement of the new pipe or cable before the old ones are removed.
For instance, to install an intermediate pipe rack above an existing one, it is necessary to remove the old strut members from the vertical threaded rod, or to take off the nut and lower the strut members. The intermediate strut member must then be forced over the existing pipe and cable which often requires bending or cutting an existing support rod to allow the intermediate strut member to fit on the rods above the pipe and cable. Then the old lower strut member must be put back into position. This threading procedure alone takes many hours.
One solution has been to provide a split nut device, which can be assembled onsite to support strut members. Various split nut configurations, although not utilized to support strut members, are known in the art. Specifically, there are several patents which disclose various split nut configurations.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 663,208 to Wrensch discloses a pair of nut sections, each having a central threaded perforation, wherein the nut sections are hinged together at one side and joined together at other side by a screw. As can be seen, each nut section is not identical with the other. Further two different parts are required for the fastener and the hinge portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,146 to Uhlig discloses a swivel nut assembly formed from a pair of pivotally interconnected U-shaped disks, each disk forming a U-shaped recess. Two separate parts which are distinct from each other are required for the fastener and the hinge portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,958 to Kelso discloses an interlocking pipe rack assembly including two elongate separate strut members with a fastening means. However, the fastening means does not disclose any simple manufacturing part nor does it disclose an interchangeable hinge-fastening portion.
Thus, none of these references offer a simple to manufacture device which is easy to install on a threaded rod with existing strut members. Therefore, a need exists which overcomes all of the shortcomings of the prior art references known in the art.